Gov. Janet Napolitano stands behind boxes of crayons and notebooks as she congratulates state employees for a collection drive that brought in thousands of donated school supplies for Arizona schoolchildren.

Volunteers loaded dozens of boxes filled with school supplies onto a school bus July 17.
Gov. Janet Napolitano had to excuse herself from the heavy lifting because of a tennis injury. But she mingled with school-age kids from the Kaiser Family Foundation as they and other volunteers loaded up the bus with donated items.
State employees from a range of agencies helped to collect donations of thousands of brand-new items like backpacks, notebooks, paper, pen and pencils, glue and other items needed for school.
The event — dubbed Pack to School — took place on a stretch of street usually closed to traffic — 18th Avenue just west of the Executive Tower.
Parked in front of the school bus was a white inmate bus from the Department of Corrections. The bus had been packed with school items — many of them purchased with $10,000 that Perryville Prison inmates raised from events like bake sales.
These school items were set out on display on 18th Avenue.
Sponsors included the Salvation Army, Sleep America, Mountainside Fitness and FreeScale Semiconductor.
Before the school bus was loaded, the governor told the gathering that donations will be welcome through Aug. 3.
“Anything contributed makes a great difference,” she said.
Last year’s drive collected school supplies for 7,500 students at 37 schools, the Governor’s Office said.
Donations can be dropped off at the Phoenix Salvation Army headquarters, 2707 E. Van Buren St., as well as branch locations of Mountainside Fitness and Sleep America.